Jon Serl
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Jon Serl (1894–1993) was an American self-taught artist who lived a colorful and unconventional life. As a child, he worked alongside his large family as a vaudeville performer. Later in life, he worked as a Hollywood voice actor and migrant fruit picker before devoting his life to painting after World War II.
A sign hung in the artist's home read, "CLEAN ENOUGH TO BE HEALTHY, DIRTY ENOUGH TO BE HAPPY". Serl’s dreamlike paintings were installed on every wall of his home in Lake Elsinore, CA, and also piled up along the floors, where chickens, mice, and dogs roamed free in the various rooms of his house. The subject matter in Serl’s paintings ranges from everyday scenes and landscapes to more supernatural narratives.
Special thanks to Sam Messer for helping organize and connect.
Photograph by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photographs by Alfred S. Pagano
Photograph by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photographs courtesy Quinten and Alex Sukhov
Photograph courtesy Quinten and Alex Sukhov
Photographs by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photographs by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photograph courtesy Quinten and Alex Sukhov
Photographs by Alfred S. Pagano
Photograph by Sam Messer
Photographs by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photograph by Alfred S. Pagano
Photographs by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photograph of Susan and Jon, by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
Photographs by Lauri Robert Martin, courtesy Susan Larsen
